


Parasitic Nightmares

by Noklar



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin is the best brother in the galaxy, Crying, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PURELY PLATONIC, Parasites, Platonic Relationships, Post-Episode: s02e08 Brain Invaders, Protective Anakin Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25973425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noklar/pseuds/Noklar
Summary: A week after returning to the temple after her experiences with the Geonosian Brain Worms, Ahsoka is still haunted by the events. Nightmares plague her sleep every night. In fear of appearing weak, she tries to hide her troubles from everyone, particularly her master. But Anakin can be very observant when he needs to. And Ahsoka finds out that having a protective master might not be so bad after all.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 5
Kudos: 126





	Parasitic Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> I dunno what dark corner of my microscopic brain this spawned from, but it exists now.

_She ran. Ran through the white hallway, away from the Mirialan chasing her. She gave it all she got. The thought of becoming like the rest of the crew gave her legs the extra power she needed and the distance between them increased. She rounded a corner and caught the glimpse of two figures in white armor before she felt four strong hands grip both her arms tightly._

_The Clones._

_Her heart skipped a beat. She yanked at her arms, trying to free herself from their grasp, but all of her efforts were useless. Their grips were like iron. She glanced up at one of them, two cold and lifeless eyes stared back at her, sending chills down her spine. She cursed furiously at them and tried escaping again. She grimaced as she felt them squeeze her arms painfully. That was definitely going to leave a mark, but that was the least of her worries._

_She heard footsteps and turned in the direction they were coming from. Her heart stopped. Barriss was walking towards them, slowly, the same dead look in her eyes. Her lips morphed into a sadistic grin at the sight of the frightened Togruta. In her hand, was one of those eggs. One of those things. Ahsoka_ _felt panic take over and started thrashing violently, desperately trying to free herself, but the already painful grips just hardened even more._

_Barriss stopped in front of the struggling Togruta, holding out the vile egg. It hatched, and out slithered one of those disgusting worms. She tried to free herself again as she felt the creature slither closer to her nose. It was no use. Tears began leaking out of her eyes. She shut them tightly, a small whimper escaping her lips as she felt the creature starting to enter her nostril._

* * *

Ahsoka shot up with a scream, wide awake, and gasping for air. Her back was covered in sweat. She looked around frantically and calmed down ever so slightly upon realizing she was in her room at the temple. She drew a few shaky breaths, her body trembling slightly. A small tear trickled down her cheek, but she made no effort to wipe it away. Instead, she curled up into a little ball, wrapping her arms around herself. She buried her face into her knees, trying to fight the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes.

_I won't cry! I won't cry!_

Ever since she and Barriss had gotten back to the temple a week ago, she'd been having these nightmares. The thought of falling asleep was almost frightening. The image of that parasite slithering into her nose flashed through her mind.

She shuddered.

It was the same thing every night. She'd have that kriffing nightmare, and sit awake for the rest of the night. She did her best to hide the fact that she was practically scared of sleeping, but of course, her master had noticed something was wrong, she'd been stupid to think he wouldn't. She'd told him she was fine when he asked, but it probably wasn't very convincing. He always knew when something was up. It was a miracle he hadn't figured it out already. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was weak.

Jedi didn't cry. And they certainly weren't scared of some stupid nightmare.

She checked the time.

_0200._

She let out a tired and frustrated groan and laid down on the thin mattress she slept on. She stared up at the roof, trying to come up with a way to pass the time. She wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon in this state.

She sensed a presence, not far from her room. Her blood turned to ice. It was her master's presence. He must have sensed something was wrong.

She quickly rolled over on her side, facing away from the door and pretended to be asleep. Maybe there was a chance to still get out of this without telling him.

After a few minutes, she heard the doors open and felt him step inside, his force signature was bright as a star. His footsteps stopped in the middle of the room, but no words were spoken. For a second she thought her bluff had worked. But her hopes were quickly crushed.

"Snips, I may not have the brightest mind in this galaxy, but I'm not that dumb." His voice was firm, but not angry.

She stayed silent.

_Please think I'm sleeping, please think I'm sleeping!_

"I know you're awake, Ahsoka,"

She silently prayed for him to go away. He couldn't find out. The thought of looking weak was almost as scary as the nightmares.

He persisted. "I could sense your distress all the way from my quarters, Ahsoka. You weren't shielding yourself properly."

She cursed mentally. How could she have been so stupid? She must have been projecting louder than a kriffing megaphone.

She sighed, knowing the game was over. She rolled over to face him. He was standing a few meters away from her, his expression one of concern. He wasn't wearing his usual armor and was instead wearing black sleep pants and a matching shirt. She noticed the glove on his right arm was missing, revealing the golden prosthetic.

She sat up on the mattress, looking down at her feet. "I'm just having some trouble sleeping."

"Uh-huh. And Master Windu just granted me the rank of Master," he joked.

She couldn't help but smile slightly at his joke. She couldn't imagine that happening anytime soon.

Anakin walked over to the mattress and sat down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked, fully aware that something was troubling her.

No answer. She was still starring down at her feet, fidgeting nervously.

He sighed. "Please, Ahsoka. I just want to help you. I can tell something's wrong."

Still no answer.

He wasn't about to give up. "Ahsoka, you can tell me anything. And I mean it. You don't have to hide anything from me. Ever." He supposed that was a little ironic. After all, he hid many things from her.

She still didn't say anything, but he could sense she was starting to open up slightly. After a moment of hesitance, she leaned onto his shoulder. Her intimacy caught him by surprise, but he quickly put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

She felt her eyelids grow heavy, his warmth was surprisingly calming. She finally spoke, "I keep having nightmares," she murmured, "every night."

Anakin was delighted that she'd opened up to him. He was starting to think she wouldn't. But the fact that a nightmare had gotten her this upset worried him. It must be really bad.

"About what?"

There was another moment of hesitance. "A-about those worms from Geonosis." she finally stuttered. She felt the tears she'd fought back slowly returning.

Anakin felt his heart drop. He remembered the disgusting parasite. Had it been up to him, he would have had the whole planet be glassed to make sure that every single one of those creatures were exterminated. The thought of his little Snips having to go through an entire ship infested with them on her own was bone-chilling. She should never have to go through something like that. He'd actually been worried she was going to have nightmares. And it seemed he was right to be.

"Do you want to talk about them?" He asked. "The nightmares I mean. If so, I'm all yours."

She started telling him about them, from the start when she's running from Barriss up to the point when she gets caught. She felt the tears she'd been fighting to contain starting to come back.

"I get caught, by two infected clones. I try to escape from them, but everything I try is just pointless. And then-" She stopped suddenly.

"Then, what?" he prodded, carefully. He could sense the stress rising in her.

She looked away, not answering. This was the worst part. She could feel the tears finally starting to seep out. The memory of that worm slithering across her face was still fresh in her mind. She knew it was just a dream, but it felt so real. "Then," she started, both her body and voice starting to tremble. "Then, I see Barriss. Coming towards me with... one of those eggs."

The arm around her tightened. Anakin had a pretty good idea of where this was going, and he did not like it.

She wiped away a few tears that had begun running down her cheeks, not wanting him to see them.

"Then-then, the e-egg hatches and one of those... Things come slithering out of it," her voice broke. "I can feel it slither across my face and-and-"

She couldn't finish. Instead, she let out a sob she'd been trying to hold back and let her tears flow freely.

Anakin felt was left of his already shattered heart be turned into dust at the sight of his snippy little Padawan breaking into tears. Not in a million years had he thought the day would come when he'd see her cry. She was always so... happy and full of life. She a strange cheerfulness everywhere she went. It was hard to remain in a bad mood whenever she was around. Seeing her like this made his whole being ache.

He gathered the little Togruta into his arms and pulled her into a tight embrace. He kept his prosthetic on her back while moving his flesh hand up to her back lekku, gently stroking it. She melted into his embrace and buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking his shirt. She wrapped her little arms around, returning the embrace.

"Shh, it's okay, Snips, it's okay. Just let it all out," he soothed, "Just let it all out. I'm not going anywhere."

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little embarrassed by being held like a child. But most of all, she felt relieved. Relieved that she didn't have to keep those nightmares shut inside her head. And relieved that her master was here.

She should have told him sooner, she realized that now.

She kept crying for who knows how long, neither of them kept track of time. He kept his hold on her through all of it, still stroking her lekku. Eventually, her sobs finally stopped, replaced by shaky breaths. He still didn't let go of her, she still needed him. She wasn't letting of him either. His embrace made her feel safe, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She knew they'd have to pull apart eventually. After all, they both needed sleep, but she really didn't want him to go.

An idea crossed her mind.

"Master?" Her voice was muffled by his robe.

"Mmm?"

She hesitated for a moment. Should she really ask this?

"Do you think you could... Maybe stay here tonight?" She asked.

She immediately regretted it. If she hadn't appeared weak before, she definitely was now. She was glad the room was so dark, or else he'd have seen her darkening lekku.

But to her surprise and delight, he didn't say no, "Of course, Snips," he whispered.

She tightened her hold on him to show her gratitude. Inside she felt herself swell with joy. She could always count on Anakin.

"Wait here," he said, "I'll be right back."

She reluctantly pulled away and watched him leave her room. True to his word, he was back only a minute later, carrying a mattress and pillow. He put the mattress down beside hers and laid down, gesturing for her to do the same. She hesitated for a moment, still a bit embarrassed, but she pushed the thought out of her mind. She'd asked for this.

Anakin smiled at her and closed his eyes. Not long after, he felt her snuggle up next to him. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against him. He felt her wrap an arm around him too, forgetting all about her embarrassment.

"Thanks, Master." she murmured, feeling truly calm for the first time since she got back to the temple.

He smiled. This was a side of Ahsoka he had yet to experience. He hoped it wouldn't be the last time, but preferably without her having nightmares. "Anytime, Snips. Anytime," he said, rubbing her back.

She managed a smile, before finally drifting off into a dreamless sleep, comforted by his presence. 


End file.
